Holiday, sickness and leave, worked out and recorded
Your staff book holiday and report sickness in the app. We work out holiday, sick pay and family leave, keep holiday and sickness records for 6 years, and send whoever runs your payroll a summary each pay period.
- Holiday records
- Kept for 6 years
- Sick pay
- From the first day off
- Payroll
- A summary each pay period
Included in your plan. All names in the app previews are made up for the demo.
Your requests
- Mon 24 to Fri 28 May5 daysApproved
- Fri 13 Aug1 dayWaiting
All names are made up for the demo.
Holiday, booked in the app
Staff see their balance and ask for time off. You or a manager approve it, with a team calendar that shows clashes. You choose your holiday year, booking notice and carry-over rules when you set up.
-
The rule
5.6 weeks’ paid holiday a year
What it means for youPro rata for part-time staff. Staff with irregular hours, or who work part of the year, build up 12.07% of the hours they work.
What we doWe work out each person’s entitlement and keep their balance up to date as they book.
-
The rule
Bank holidays by nation
What it means for youEngland and Wales have 8, including Easter Monday. Scotland has 9, including 2 January and St Andrew’s Day, but not Easter Monday.
What we doEach person’s bank holidays follow the nation they work in, so one business can have staff in both.
-
The rule
Notice to book or refuse holiday
What it means for youUnless the contract says otherwise, staff give notice at least twice as long as the holiday, plus a day: 3 days’ notice for 1 day off. To refuse, you give notice as long as the holiday, plus a day.
What we doThe app uses these rules unless your contracts say otherwise, and we write refusal letters with the right notice.
-
The rule
Holiday on set days
What it means for youTo make staff take holiday on set days, such as a shutdown, you give notice at least twice as long as the holiday.
What we doWe write the notice.
-
The rule
Holiday when someone leaves
What it means for youHoliday they haven’t taken must be paid in their final pay, even after a dismissal for gross misconduct (misconduct serious enough to dismiss without notice).
What we doWe work out what they’re owed and put it in the pay summary.
Sickness and sick pay
Since 6 April 2026, Statutory Sick Pay (the minimum sick pay the law sets) is paid from the first day off sick, for every employee: £123.25 a week, or 80% of their average weekly earnings if that’s less.
-
They report it in the app
By your deadline, or within 7 days if you haven’t set one.
-
Up to 7 days
They self-certify
They fill in their own absence record. No doctor’s note is needed for the first 7 days.
-
After 7 days
They upload a fit note
The note from their doctor saying whether they’re fit for work.
-
Sick pay worked out
We work out their sick pay for whoever runs your payroll: Statutory Sick Pay, and your company sick pay if you offer it, with the days each person has left. If Statutory Sick Pay isn’t due, or has ended, we prepare HMRC’s SSP1 form to tell them why.
-
Back at work
A return-to-work form records the dates and any support agreed.
Who sees what
Health details are kept to the minimum, kept apart from other records, and shown only to the people who need them.
Longer or repeated absence
- When absences form a pattern, an informal review at trigger points you choose.
- For long-term sickness, welfare meetings, consent to a medical report and a record of reasonable adjustments.
- Long-term sickness or disability goes to your HR expert, who handles it with you.
Records kept for as long as the law says
Since April 2026, you must keep holiday records for 6 years: holiday taken and carried over, holiday pay, and pay in lieu. Not keeping them can be a criminal offence, and the Fair Work Agency, the new government body for employment rights, starts enforcing holiday pay in April 2027 at the earliest.
Holiday
Kept for 6 years: entitlement, holiday taken and carried over, holiday pay and pay in lieu.
Sickness
Kept for 6 years: dates, self-certificates, fit notes and sick pay.
Statutory family pay
Kept for 3 years from the end of the tax year: proof of pregnancy, such as the MATB1 certificate from a midwife or doctor, start dates, each payment, and any weeks not paid and why.
The records build up as staff book holiday and report sickness. You can download them whenever you need them, even after you leave.
Every kind of family leave
When someone tells you about a pregnancy, a baby, an adoption or a caring need, we take you through the leave. Each kind has its own notice rule, and we work out any statutory pay for your payroll.
- Pregnancy and maternity go straight to your HR expert, who takes you through the risk assessment, time off for antenatal appointments and the dates to confirm in writing.
- Maternity leave: they tell you at least 15 weeks before the baby is due, and you confirm their leave and return dates in writing within 28 days. We write the letter.
- Statutory Maternity Pay: 90% of their average weekly earnings for 6 weeks, then £194.32 a week or 90% if that’s less.
- Keeping-in-touch days agreed and paid, and their return to work planned.
- Paternity leave and unpaid parental leave have been rights from day one since 6 April 2026. You can postpone parental leave by up to 6 months, explained in writing within 7 days, but never straight after a birth or adoption.
- Adoption, shared parental, neonatal care and parental bereavement leave, each with its confirmation letter. Neonatal care leave is up to 12 weeks.
- Carer’s leave of a week a year from day one, time off for dependants and time off for antenatal appointments, all recorded.
Coming in April 2027: up to 2 weeks’ unpaid bereavement leave from day one, including for pregnancy loss before 24 weeks. Your documents update before it starts.
Kasia has told me she’s pregnant. What do I need to do?
Mirith
This is one for your HR expert, so I’ve passed it to Rachel with our chat. She’ll take you through the risk assessment, time off for appointments and the dates to confirm in writing.
All names are made up for the demo.
Flexible working requests
Asking for flexible working is a right from day one. You must decide within 2 months, and discuss the request with them before refusing it.
- You log each request in the app: the change they want and how it would affect the business.
- The app shows you the 2-month deadline.
- We record your discussion, then write the decision: approval, with a trial period if you want one, or a refusal with your reasons.
- Refusals and appeals are checked by your HR expert first.
Coming in autumn 2027: requests can only be refused where that’s reasonable, on a set ground.
A pay summary for whoever runs payroll
We don’t run payroll. Once each pay period, we give whoever does it (you, a bookkeeper or your accountant) everything that changes pay:
- Starters, with their starter checklist and bank details
- Leavers, with final pay, holiday owed and a reminder to issue their P45 (the form showing their pay and tax so far)
- Pay changes and hours
- Company sick pay if you offer it, plus Statutory Sick Pay, Statutory Maternity Pay and any other statutory pay due
It’s a secure download, not an email attachment. Your accountant or bookkeeper can have their own login that only sees the pay summaries.
- Payroll itself. We don’t work out tax or National Insurance, produce payslips or file with HMRC.
Questions
Can I refuse a holiday request?
Yes. Unless the contract says otherwise, you give notice as long as the holiday asked for, plus a day, and we write the letter. You can also require staff to take holiday on set days, with notice at least twice as long as the holiday.
An employee has told me she’s pregnant. What do I do?
Tell Mirith, our assistant, in the app. It goes straight to your HR expert, who takes you through the risk assessment, time off for antenatal appointments and the dates to confirm in writing. Your HR expert replies by 5pm if it reaches them by 3pm on a working day, and otherwise by noon the next working day.
How is holiday worked out for staff on irregular hours?
Staff with irregular hours, or who work part of the year, build up holiday at 12.07% of the hours they work. Everyone else gets 5.6 weeks a year, pro rata for part-time staff.
Who can see my staff’s sickness details?
Only the people who need them. Health details are kept to the minimum and kept apart from other records.
Can my staff see their own holiday balance?
Yes. In the app, staff see how much holiday they have left, book time off and see when it’s approved. Managers see the team calendar, so clashes show up before they approve.
Sources
- Holiday entitlement, gov.uk
- Booking time off, gov.uk
- Holiday pay and entitlement reforms, gov.uk
- Keeping holiday records, Acas
- Bank holidays, gov.uk
- Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027, gov.uk
- Statutory Sick Pay eligibility and fit notes, gov.uk
- Maternity leave: how to claim, gov.uk
- Statutory Maternity Pay, gov.uk
- Carer’s leave, gov.uk
- Flexible working: after the application, gov.uk
- The Fair Work Agency, business.gov.uk
Checked against the law on 8 October 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Your HR team, from January 2027.
Start with the free checklist. Reserve your founding price, and we set you up in January. It’s refundable until launch.
Not ready yet? Get the free 1 January 2027 checklist.